Ellistown
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Ellistown is a village about south of
Coalville Coalville is a town in the district of North West Leicestershire in Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. In 2011, it had a population of 34,575. It lies on the A511 road, A511 between Leicester and Burton upon Trent, close to junct ...
in the
North West Leicestershire North West Leicestershire is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Leicestershire, England. The towns in the district include of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Castle Donington, Coalville, Leicestershire , Coalville (where the council is b ...
district of
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
, England. It is named after Colonel Joseph Joel Ellis who died in 1885. The village is in the
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of
Ellistown and Battleflat Ellistown and Battleflat is a civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England, just south of the town of Coalville. Most of the parish's population lives in the village of Ellistown in the western part of the parish. The population of the c ...
. The village has a community primary school, two village shops and a hairdressing salon. A
working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland, Northern Ireland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education ...
,
Ellistown F.C. Ellistown Football Club is a football club based in the village of Ellistown, near Coalville in Leicestershire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Terrace Road. History The club was established as United Collieries Football ...
football club and five play parks. Ellistown is just within the eastern boundary of the
National Forest National Forest may refer to: * National forest or state forest, a forest administered or protected by a sovereign state ** National forest (Brazil) ** National forest (France) ** National forest (United States) ** State Forests (Poland) ** The N ...
.


History

Ellistown is named after Colonel Joseph Joel Ellis of London, but its history predates him. From the 14th century it was in the
hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...
of
Sparkenhoe Sparkenhoe was a hundred of Leicestershire, England in the south-west of the county, covering Market Bosworth and Hinckley, broadly corresponding to the modern districts of Blaby and Hinckley and Bosworth. The meeting place of the Sparkenhoe Hund ...
and parish of
Ibstock Ibstock is a former coal mining village and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. The population of the civil parish was 5,760 at the 2001 census increasing to 6,201 at the 2011 census and 7,615 at the 2021 census. The village i ...
. Ecclesiastically the area was part of the Anglican Diocese of Lincoln from the
English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...
until 1837 and then the Diocese of Peterborough until 1926, when it became part of the new
Diocese of Leicester The Diocese of Leicester is a Church of England diocese based in Leicester and including the current county of Leicestershire. The cathedral is Leicester Cathedral, where the Bishop of Leicester has his episcopal chair. The diocese is divided in ...
. The village was developed for coal mining from the
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
.


Mediaeval and early modern periods

Around 1140 Swinfen Grange was one of two granges given by nobleman Robert Byrton to the Abbot of
Garendon Abbey Garendon Abbey was a Cistercian abbey located between Shepshed and Loughborough, in Leicestershire, United Kingdom. History Garendon was founded by Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, in 1133, and was probably a daughter house of Waverle ...
which was near what is now
Shepshed Shepshed (often known until 1888 as ''Sheepshed'', also ''Sheepshead'' – a name derived from the village being heavily involved in the wool industry) is a market town and civil parish in the Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England with ...
. Swinfen was where the Abbot's bailiff lived and was only a small mud and wattle built settlement with three strip fields surrounded by
Charnwood Forest Charnwood Forest is a hilly tract in north-western Leicestershire, England, bounded by Leicester, Loughborough and Coalville. The area is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland, ...
. When the monasteries were dissolved for
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
, Garendon Abbey surrendered its lands to
the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
which then sold or let them. Swinfen Grange was let to a John Pykeringe in 1531 for £7 per year. At this point the name seems to have changed to ''"Pykeringe Grange"'' after its first lay tenant, although there is some evidence that for some times the names Swinfen Grange and Pykeringe Grange may both have been used. The area that became Ellistown was called Swinfen Rushes at the start of the 19th century, while that now called Pickering Grange seemed to extend to the crossroads where the
Hugglescote Hugglescote is a village on the River Sence in North West Leicestershire, England. The village is about south of the centre of Coalville, and its built-up area is now contiguous with the town. Hugglescote and Donington le Heath were part of t ...
to
Bagworth Bagworth is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bagworth and Thornton, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in Leicestershire, England, west of Leicester. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1568. History The villag ...
pony track crossed Beverley's Lane. The manorial history is shown in detail in John Nichols' ''History of the County of Leicester'', Volume IV and by John Curtis 30 years later. The site of the medieval grange house is almost south of Ellistown village. It was originally a
moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
ed
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
. The western part of the present Pickering Grange Farmhouse on the site is 17th century or earlier; the eastern part is a 19th-century addition.


19th century – to 1880

The pony trains appear to have demised around 1810 with the coming of the canals and railways in the area. The pony trains brought coal from Ibstock Colliery, turning at the crossroads towards
Bagworth Bagworth is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bagworth and Thornton, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in Leicestershire, England, west of Leicester. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1568. History The villag ...
to avoid the turnpikes, and then on to Leicester via
Aylestone Aylestone is a suburb of Leicester in Leicestershire, England, southwest of the city centre and east of the River Soar. St Andrew's Church, Aylestone dates from the 13th century. The area around the church retains much of the former villag ...
. The Slip Inn on Whitehill Road near where the first pit was sunk was a favoured stopping point for the pony trains. John Curtis in his account of the county in 1831 mentions Pickering's Grange as a hamlet in the parish of Ibstock. The
Leicester and Swannington Railway The Leicester and Swannington Railway (L&SR) was one of England's first railways, built to bring coal from West Leicestershire collieries to Leicester, where there was great industrial demand for coal. The line opened in 1832, and included a tun ...
opened in 1832. It passed less than east of Ellistown and its nearest station was at just over a mile northeast of the village. The
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...
took over the line in 1845, and a few years later realigned the railway between and Bardon Hill to avoid the 1 in 29 Bagworth Incline. The new alignment was slightly west of the old route, and the Midland opened a new
Bagworth and Ellistown railway station Bagworth and Ellistown was a railway station on the Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line, that served the villages of Bagworth and Ellistown in Leicestershire. It was opened by the Midland Railway in 1849 and closed by British Railways in 1964. ...
at Bagworth south of Ellistown. In 1849 the Midland opened an extension from to , which made the line through Bagworth and Ellistown part of its
Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a population of in . The greater Leicester urban area had a population of ...
. In 1873 the
Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway The Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway was a pre-grouping railway company in the English Midlands, built to serve the Leicestershire coalfield. Both the Midland Railway and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) wished to build a line on sim ...
opened. It had a branch from through Hugglescote to Coalville Town, and Hugglescote railway station was only north of the centre of Ellistown. Just to the north of Hugglescote a junction was added in 1883, when the
Charnwood Forest Railway The Charnwood Forest Railway was a branch line in Leicestershire constructed by the Charnwood Forest Company between 1881 and 1883. The branch line ran from Coalville (joined from the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway (ANJR)) to the town of Lou ...
opened from here to . Also directly to the north of Hugglescote station a branch ran into South Leicester Colliery. On their arrival the Ellis family took over the Inn converting it into their servants' quarters and adding accommodation for themselves as well as stables and a carriage house. Around here was very little in the way of buildings at this time: Johnny Battram's cottage, two farms along Whitehill Lane and the railway spur that served Ibstock Colliery. Ellistown Colliery was sunk in 1873 and two years later was producing coal. It had a rail link to the Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line. Colonel Ellis had two terraces of houses built on either side of the Bagworth to Hugglescote road to house employees and this was the beginning of modern Ellistown. All but one of these terraces have now been demolished. Towards the end of their history Ellistown West Terraces had a great deal of iron banding and brick supports attached to them to resist the effect of mining subsidence that prevails in this area. The South Leicestershire Coal Company opened its colliery in 1874 northeast of the crossroads. Like Ellis it built terraces for its workers on the lane leading to it, South Street. The colliery was linked to the
Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway The Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway was a pre-grouping railway company in the English Midlands, built to serve the Leicestershire coalfield. Both the Midland Railway and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) wished to build a line on sim ...
.


19th and 20th centuries – 1881 and after

In 1881 the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
built a day school which also served as a mission church. The
Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
of
Saint Christopher Saint Christopher (, , ; ) is venerated by several Christian denominations. According to these traditions, he was a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman Empire, Roman emperor Decius (), or alternatively under the emperor Maximin ...
was built in 1895–96 from local brick, with
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
windows in a
Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', ⟠...
style. The foundation stone was laid in October 1895 by the wife of
Mandell Creighton Mandell Creighton (; 5 July 1843 â€“ 14 January 1901) was a British historian, Anglican priest and bishop. The son of a successful carpenter in north-west England, Creighton studied at the University of Oxford, focusing his scholarship on ...
,
Bishop of Peterborough The Bishop of Peterborough is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Peterborough in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of Northamptonshire (including the Soke of Peterborough) and Rutland. The see is in ...
, and the Bishop consecrated the church on 25 April 1896. It was built of Ellistown Red Tapped bricks from the Ellistown Brick and Pipe Company. The Rev. Mr. Terry was made the first vicar of the Parish. In 1911 a vicarage was built next to the church for the Rev. Mr. Boothby: before this Broughton Villa on Whitehill Road served as the vicarage. St. Christopher's is now part of a combined
benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...
with the parishes of Hugglescote and Snibston. At the same time the Methodists were having a chapel built by the original Ellistown Terraces and the
Wesleyans Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christian tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother Charles Wesley were also significa ...
had theirs built opposite what came to be known as White Hill Farm. Both of these chapels have since been demolished, the Wesleyan Chapel was replaced by newer housing. The New Ellistown Hotel was formerly the South Leicester Hotel. It stands on the land of the original White Hill Farm. Deeds for White Hill Farm from 1784 show the farm's site running from the crossroads along Ibstock Road to the end of the present village. The pub closed in 2010's and remained shut for some time before being transformed into a mini market shop around 2017. The first private houses on White Hill Road were built in 1877. Both pits prospered and Ibstock and Midland Roads were developed for more housing. The terraces on Kendal and Cumberland Roads were built 1895–1900. Once White Hill Road had been developed the two separate areas of White Hill and Ellistown became one, and this was called Ellistown. After Colonel Ellis died, the colliery, brickworks and estate were carried on by trustees under Orders of the
Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...
until 1936. In 1936 the colliery and brickworks were separated into two companies. Ellistown Brick and Pipe Company closed before the Second World War. Colonel Ellis was not a member of the prominent Ellis family of Leicester, and there has been confusion about this. The
London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...
absorbed all the local railways in the
1923 grouping The Railways Act 1921 ( 11 & 12 Geo. 5. c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an act of Parliament enacted by the British government, and was intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grou ...
. In 1931 the LMS withdrew passenger services from the Ashby and Nuneaton and Charnwood Forest lines and closed Hugglescote station. Nationalisation in 1948 made the lines part of
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
ways, which withdrew freight services from the Charnwood Forest line in 1963 and from the Ashby and Nuneaton line in 1971. In 1964 BR withdrew passenger services from the Leicester to Burton line and closed Bagworth and Ellistown station. Around 1975 BR realigned the Ashby and Nuneaton trackbed; from running through the former Hugglescote station to having the embankment to the north of rebuilt to run into the South Leicestershire Colliery only to serve the Coalfield Farm rapid loader facility. This was fed from the Sence Valley opencast colliery via a conveyor belt system. Trains could access the facility from Coalville Junction. Coalfields Farm closed in the mid 1990s. Most British collieries were nationalised in 1947. On 16 May 1952 a notice of a meeting for the winding up of the Ellistown Colliery Company Limited was published. The site is now a factory making concrete pipes. The South Leicestershire Colliery closed in 1989, the site of the colliery is now a small industrial estate. Between late 1999 to mid-2012 Ellistown expanded significantly with the addition of new housing estates on its eastern side between Whitehill Road and Beveridge Lane. Recently the parish council has introduced a gala day that is held every August on South Street park.


Notes


Sources

*


External links


Mine Explorer
has entries for both coal mines ''(website under reconstruction as of January 2012)'' * account of the coalfield around Ibstock {{authority control Villages in Leicestershire North West Leicestershire District